The 6-foot-9 Rocky Point junior had one more chance to clear 6-04 in the high jump at the Section XI State Qualifier Saturday at Port Jefferson High School. Bellport sophomore Ricky Headlam had already cleared the height and the pressure was on Loomis to keep the competition going.

"That's when I really focus in on speed as opposed to everything else," Loomis said afterward.

Loomis cleared 6-04 on his third attempt and then 6-05 on his first attempt at the next height. When Headlam couldn't duplicate Loomis' 6-05 jump he had himself a first-place finish and trip to Syracuse for the state championship locked up.

Before it was over Loomis cleared a personal record 6-06 and attempted 6-07 before finally missing. If he had cleared 6-07 he would have set a school record.

Coming into the meet Loomis said he aimed at clearing 6-05 for starters. It wasn't going to be easy. The first height he missed was only 6-0, which he made on second attempt.

"It gets you a little angry, but you kind of work with that and use it to fuel you for the higher heights," he said.

Loomis narrowly missed qualifying for states in the indoor season after he placed third at 6-03. Billy Motherway of Kings Park also cleared 6-03 but took second on jumps.

Loomis didn't leave any doubt in the spring.

Following the winter season where Loomis saw tremendous improvement -- thanks in large to an increase in his strength -- he knew the potential was there for him to do even better in the spring.

Now he'll get a chance to compete against the best in the state.

"I started [high jumping] last year in spring season so I guess I've been going a little over a year," he said.

Rocky Point coach Chris Donadoni said they tried to prepare Loomis to peak at this point in the season. It wasn't always so simple. Loomis was so determined in practice at times the coaches needed to slow him down.

If Loomis jumps as he did at the state qualifier he'll be in the mix for one of the top finishes in the state. Sean Reilly of Arlington would be the favorite -- his seed mark is 6-11 -- but the next best jumper has a seed of 6-07.

Loomis was one of several local athletes to place first at the qualifier.

Longwood junior Dannie Holland continued his dominance in the triple jump by jumping 46-04 1/2 for first place. He won by more than a foot over Aaron Green of Riverhead, who jumped 45-02 3/4.

Holland is seeded sixth at the state meet. Sam Ludgood of Web Schroeder has the top seed at 47-05 1/2. Holland was the only Longwood athlete to qualify for the states.

Shoreham-Wading River senior Bobby Andrews was the only local athlete to win multiple events. On Friday he won the 3,200 in 9 minutes, 12.25 seconds and Saturday he came back to win the 1,600 in 4:14.85.

Andrews said he'll run both events at the state meet, but the main focus will be on the 3,200 where he hopes to break 9 minutes. He has the best seed time at 9:06.24.

Andrews is the defending state champion in the 3,200 from the indoor season.

Andrews said he knows he's better suited for the longer 2-mile race as opposed to the 1-mile.

"The mile is more of a speed race," he said. "I have good speed, but not 50 quarter speed. The 2-mile suits me much better than the mile."

He's hardly a slouch in the mile.

His seed time of 4:13.54 has him third going into the state meet. After running the 1,600 Saturday, Andrews even came back to run the anchor leg of the 4 x 800 relay team.

Looking ahead to the 3,200, Andrews said he hopes the pace goes out quick.

"If nobody's pushing him, nobody's challenging him," said Shoreham coach Bob Szymanski.

Andrews will be joined by teammate Brian Nill, who won the 800 in a time just shy of the school record. Nill, a senior, ran 1:54.72 to finish .02 shy of the school record.

"I made a move on the back straightaway and no one went with me," Nill said. "I just sucked it up and finished strong."

Nill said his second meet of the year he ran 1:58 and his times kept improving as the year progressed, culminating in his personal best at the state qualifier.

"It came out of nowhere today," said Nill, who had several runners in front of him after the first of two laps.

"I didn't want to lead after the first lap," he said. "I just wanted to take it after the second."

joew@northshoresun.com

Add your comments below:

Your name:

Your email:

Subject:


Comments:



Enter text seen above: